Surgical footwear



Aug. 16, 1960 A.ANDERSEN SURGICAL FOOTWEAR Filed Sept. 2, 1959 HVVENTOR:

ALGOT ANDERSEN BY SURGICAL FOOTWEAR Algot Andersen, 32 Haukelandsveien, Bergen, Norway Ii"? Sept. 2,1959, Ser. No. 837,727

priority, application Norway Sept. 8, 1958 2 Claims. (Cl. '368.5)

This invention relates to surgical footwear for persons sufiering from deformities or deficiencies of the foot, which may be either congenital or acquired.

Heretofore it has been the normal practice to treat such deformities by constructing foot-arch supports as shaped pads or linings to be worn inside a boot or a shoe either as an insert or as an integral part of the footwear. However, loose inserts of this kind are liable to work out of position, in which event they may easily do more harm than good, whereas shoes, boots and the like containing permanent and integral foot-arch supports are diflicult to manufacture; furthermore, the more serious deficiencies cannot be effectively treated by such arrangement.

It is an object of the present invention to obtain footwear of the stated kind for treating even the more serious deformities or deficiencies.

A further object of the present invention is to obtain a. surgical footwear which is specifically advantageous in such treatment by providing a highly rigid support of the deformed or deficient foot.

According to the invention there is provided a surgical footwear, comprising a substantially rigid bottom sole member carrying on its upper face built-up pads for supporting the foot, a foot gripping upper member shaped to conform with the outer shape of the foot and to enclose same in a tight grip, and a fulcrum connection between the bottom sole member and the upper member arranged as an axis of pivotation extending across the foot beneath the foot-ball thereof, said fulcrum connection allowing the heel portion of the upper member to pivot freely about said axis but counteracting movement of the upper member in relation to said bottom sole member in substantially all other directions.

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the invention may become more apparent from the following description referring to a particular embodiment given by way of example only, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. l is a lateral view of the relevant parts of a surgical footwear according to the present invention, the illustration being highly simplified to show the active skeleton parts of the footwear, with some parts of the shoe upper member being cut away to show some details.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the parts shown in Figure 1 in an alternative embodiment.

Referring now to the drawings, reference numeral designates a rigid bottom sole member forming the main tread support of the deformed or deficient foot. This member may be made of wood, fibre reinforced plastic materials, rigid sole leather, or the like, having a bottom sole 11 of a wear resistant material such as rubber or sole leather bonded to the lower face thereof. The upper face of said bottom sole member '10 is shaped with pad portions 12 the locations and shapes of which will depend upon the specific kind of deficiency or deformation of the wearers foot. This upper face may be covered by a thin insole member 13, if it should be undesired to leave un- United States Patent 2,948,972 Patented Aug. 16, 1 950 covered the upper face of the material forming the main part of the bottom sole member.

Generally, the upper member of the footwear comprises a foot enclosing member 14, which may be of any conventional design adapted to have a sure grip on the foot. Thus, the upper member may comprise two side portion a members 15, a heel portion member 16 and a bottom member 17, which are sewn together by seams 18 to form a foot gripping shoe part. This member 14 has for its main object to enclose the foot in a firm grip, and may have any convenient outer shape, provided that this firm grip is obtained. Thus, the shoe upper member 14 may have the shape of a conventional upper leather to which is stitched a bottom member of any weak and pliable material, such as upper leather, lining leather, or the like, or may even consist of straps forming together a sandal-like upper member.

This upper member 14 is rigidly connected to a pair of arm members 19, one on each side of the foot. The forward end of each arm member 19 is mounted on a pivot pin 20 for pivotation about an axis extending crosswise to the lengthwise direction of the foot just beneath the ball portion of the foot. The exact location of this axis should be chosen by the surgical bootmaker to correspond substantially to the natural fulcrum of the foot. Furthermore, the arms should be mounted so as to be movable about this fulcrum only, while resisting any movement in other directions. The correct locationmay vary somewhat all according to the individual foot and the deformities or deficiencies to be corrected.

It is preferred that the arms 19 are invisibly embeddedthe arm members 19 should be made as rigid as possibleand consists for instance, of a number of nails 21 or the like. To obtain a rigid support of the heel portion, according to an alternative embodiment of Fig. 2, a heel strap 22 shown in dotted lines may extend behind the heel of the foot to form a connection between the arm members of the pair. This strap may be of harness leather connected to arms 19 by means of nails 21, allowing vertical movement of the heel but preventing any movement thereof in the rearward direction in relation to the arms 19.

The entire arrangement should be chosen so that the upper face of the sole member 10 will give correct support when standing, while the axis of pivotation as represented by the line drawnthrough the pivots 20 as mentioned should correspond to the natural fulcrum of the foot. In manufacture, the surgical bootmaker will only have to locate this axis correctly in addition to choosing a design of the upper member to obtain maximum rigidity in the connection between the said upper member 14 and the arm members 19 and maximum support of the foot by the upper member. Furthermore, he will of course have to design the upper face to the correct shape for treating the individual deformities or deficiencies, too, but this operation is made initially and may be more easily reproduced in future manufacture for a particular treatment, than heretofore possible in the art.

Thus, it will be appreciated that surgical footwear may be manufactured with wide varieties in design of the upper member while still maintaining maximum comfort and relief of the pain. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific arrangement described above, but that many changes and alterations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

What I claim is:

1. A surgical footwear comprising a substantially rigid bottom sole member, built-up pads arranged onthe upper face of said bottom sole member according to apredetermined pattern to support the foot, an-upper member shaped to conform with the outer shape of the foot, a weak and pliable bottom member forming a bottom sole of said upper member, a pair of rigid arms secured to the sides of said upper member and terminating in an end portion extending below the bottom member of said upper member beneath the ball of the foot, and a fulcrum connection between each of said end portions and said rigid bottom sole member, the fulcrum connections of said end portions being coaxial and extending transversely of the longitudinal direction of the foot beneath the ball portion thereof.

2. A surgical footwear according to claim 1, further comprising a heel strap member extending behind the heel portion of the upper member, said heel strap member being secured to rigid arms.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,769,252 Monier Nov. 6, 1956 2,871,851 Swanson Feb. 3, 1-959 2,910,703 Shannon Nov. 3, 1959 

